7.2 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Two years after the Duke of Wellington crushes Napoleon at Waterloo, there is news from India of a local Maharaja, who is threatening British interests there. Wellington sends Sharpe to investigate on what turns out to be his most dangerous mission to date. When a general's beautiful daughter is kidnapped by an Indian warlord, the tension mounts, leaving Sharpe no option but to pursue the enemy right into his deadly lair. Deep in the heart of enemy territory, he also has to keep at bay the beautiful but scheming Regent, Madhuvanthi, who is out to seduce him. The fate of an empire and the life of a general's daughter lie in one man's hands.
Starring: Sean Bean, Daragh O'Malley, Toby Stephens, Padma Lakshmi, Aurélien RecoingWar | 100% |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: VC-1
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: Dolby Digital 5.1
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 2.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
If you’ve ever flipped casually to PBS late at night and found yourself mildly entranced by actor Sean Bean roguishly swaggering through some swashbuckling derring-do, you’re probably at least unwittingly familiar with Sharpe, a long-running series of British made-for-TV movies that follows the exploits of Richard Sharpe, a fictional soldier during the Napoleonic Wars. Between 1993 and 1997, fourteen Sharpe films were made, and after a nearly ten-year hiatus, the much- beloved character was revisited in 2006 for Sharpe’s Challenge, his biggest adventure yet, a sword-swinging spree through British-ruled India. It also marks the series’ high definition debut, which should please Sharpe regulars and may introduce a whole new audience to the square-jawed hero and his impossible adventures. A word of warning, however, for longtime Sharpe fans: Unlike the British DVD version of Sharpe’s Challenge, which contains the complete cut of the film, this Blu-ray release has been whittled down from an epic 138 minutes to a slim 105.
Sean Bean as Richard Sharpe...
Sharpe's Challenge looks decent but rather unremarkable on Blu-ray, with a 1080p, VC- 1 encoded transfer sourced from the film's Super16mm negative. I've seen several 16mm films, like Revanche, that look fantastic in high definition—richly textured, warm, and cinematic—but this Sharpe production looks exactly like what it is: a modestly budgeted made-for-TV movie. With expectations adjusted accordingly, though, most Sharpe fans should be satisfied, especially after years of standard definition PBS broadcasts. Contrast can get a bit hazy at times—especially under the midday sun—but the film's colors are bright and natural. British red coats are especially vibrant, along with gold epaulets and the multi-hued stained glass windows inside the rajah's palace. Clarity, however, is somewhat inconsistent. There are some shots that display an appreciable amount of detail, but others seem to have been given a light DNR scrubbing, rendering the actors' faces with an odd claylike texture. Like I said, though, it's not very consistent. Many scenes have a natural-looking grain structure, but there are times when the grain has been obviously removed. Thankfully, at least, there's been no heavy-handed edge enhancement to make up for the loss of detail. Overall, I'm sure this Blu-ray release of Sharpe's Challenge looks better than its DVD counterpart—and series fans will be glad of the high definition upgrade—but there's there not much to be objectively wowed by here.
The film's made-for-TV visuals are accompanied by made-for-TV audio, via a lossy and underperforming Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track. There's so much potential for a truly bombastic audio experience here—the roar of cannons, musket fire, clanging swords, the dusty clop-clop of charging horses—but it all goes woefully underdeveloped in a front-heavy mix that lacks real dynamic punch. There are several big explosions in the film, but they all sound flat and restrained, as if heard from far away. Surround channel movements are practically non-existent—I kept waiting to hear rockets zipping to and fro, to no avail—but you will hear some occasional outdoorsy ambience in the rears, along with the outdated score. (Seriously, can someone tell me what's up with the anachronistic guitar solo during the theme song?) Dialogue is easily discernable, but the actors' voices occasionally suffer from a slightly muffled quality. I can't say how much the inclusion of a lossless track would've improved on matters, but I can say that the mix we have here is workmanlike and bland.
Commentary Tracks
The disc includes two informative tracks that should be of interest to longtime Sharpe
fans, one with Sean Bean & Daragh O'Malley, and another with director Tom Clegg.
Behind the Scenes (SD, 47:09)
"There are many intimate moments and revealing interviews," says the unnamed narrator,
introducing this comprehensive making-of documentary, which takes us on location in India for a
revealing look at just about every aspect of the production. Includes interviews with author
Bernard Cornwell, director Tom Glegg, actor Sean Bean, and many others.
Cut Scenes and Outtakes (SD, 15:56)
Includes about a dozen excised scenes and few flubbed lines.
Creating the HD Master (1080i, 11:52)
If you've ever been curious about how a negative gets transferred to high definition video, this
featurette is like a 101 class in mastering, as senior colorist Dan Coles explains the process of
cleaning, grading, transferring, and color correcting the film. In the second half, the program's
visual effects supervisor explains how the advent of high definition required his team to rethink
how they achieved certain effects.
Photo Gallery (1080p, 1:45)
The only thing keeping me from recommending this Blu-ray release to Sharpe fans— besides the bummer of a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track—is the fact that we're getting a pared down version of the film here. Still, there's plenty of sword clanging action and exotic adventure to be found, even if none of it is particularly memorable or original. Be on the lookout for our review of the series' 2008 entry, Sharp's Peril, in the next day or two.
(Still not reliable for this title)
BBC
2008
Warner Archive Collection
1962
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1969
1977
2018
2003
Hurricane
2018
Warner Archive Collection
1945
Limited Edition to 3000 - SOLD OUT
1966
1958
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1990
1987
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1949
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1978
Special Edition
1968
1994-1995
2011